The present invention relates to an auger-hopper construction and, more particularly, to an auger-hopper construction for mounting to tha tailgate of a truck.
Auger tubes for pumping feed, fertilizer, grain and other free flowing particulate or granular materials have been mounted to the tailgates of trucks in the past for feeding the material from the truck to some discharge point, such as a grain elevator, grain drill or the like. Such prior constructions either consisted of an auger tube rigidly mounted in the truck tailgate so that it was immobile relative to the tailgate or the auger tube was swivelly mounted directly on the tailgate so that it could only be moved in two degrees of freedom relative to the tailgate, i.e., in a plane parallel to the plane of the tailgate. Because of the manner of mounting the auger tube in these prior constructions, the ability to position the discharge end of the auger tube was limited relative to the tailgate. It was either locked in relation to the tailgate or was limited to movement only in a plane parallel to the plane of the tailgate. Thus, in both of these prior auger-hopper constructions, the position of the auger discharge end was dependent upon the degree of tilt of the truck body and its tailgate and could not be readily adjusted to compensate for changes in the inclination or for different inclinations of the truck body.
In my U.S. Pat. No. 3,265,253, an auger-hopper construction is disclosed for use with a gravity flow wagon box in which the inclination of the auger tube and the position of its discharge end is capable of movement in three degrees of freedom to enable rapid and easy positioning of the discharge end of the auger tube in any one of a virtually infinite number of positions. However, the auger-hopper construction disclosed in that patent is constructed for mounting upon the discharge chute of a gravity flow wagon box. Such discharge chutes are fixed with respect to their inclination relative to the ground, unlike the tiltable body of a dump truck. Thus, the auger-hopper construction disclosed in that Letters Patent is not readily adaptable to a truck tailgate because the tiltable truck body may assume any one of a number of different inclinations during the course of unloading of the truck, unlike the fixed gravity flow wagon box discharge chute. Such variability of inclination presents configuration, clearance and spillage problems which do not exist with the stationary discharge chute of a gravity flow wagon box.
In the preferred embodiment of auger-hopper construction of the present invention, a construction is provided for mounting upon the rear or at the tailgate of an inclinable body dump truck and which is capable of easy and unrestricted three dimensional positioning of its auger tube through a wide range of limits, even though the truck body itself may additionally assume a wide range of inclinations. An advantage of the preferred embodiment of the auger-hopper construction of the present invention, is that the auger tube may be pivotally moved relative to the truck tailgate through a range of positions ranging from vertical to horizontal in a plane perpendicular to the truck tailgate, and also swivelly to the right and left in a plane parallel to the plane of the truck tailgate. Such pivotal and swiveling movements may be easily and quickly accomplished over the entire range of inclinations of the truck body. Another advantage of the preferred embodiment of the present invention is that the auger-hopper construction may be readily attached to or detached from the truck tailgate and, in certain instances, it need not even be completely detached from the truck during use of the truck for other purposes. Still another advantage of the preferred embodiment of the present invention is that the auger tube may be easily and quickly folded and stored for public highway transit and/or for garaging of the truck in a low clearance building. Yet another advantage of the auger-hopper construction of the preferred embodiment of the present invention is that it is automatically self emptying by gravity, thus insuring that few if any materials are left in the auger-hopper construction at the completion of use. In the preferred embodiment of auger-hopper construction of the present invention, the components of the construction are so arranged that feeding of the materials from the truck to the auger tube is improved and assisted by gravity.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood through a consideration of the following detailed description.